San Bernardino Countyâs top prosecutor is urging members of Congress who are considering immigration reform to require DNA testing of people seeking citizenship.

In a letter released Wednesday, Jan. 30, District Attorney Mike Ramos asked House Speaker John Boehner and Sen. Harry Reid to include such a provision in future legislation.

He cited the countyâs gang population â" third worst in the nation after Los Angeles and Chicago â" and said gang members are mobile and regularly travel back to their native countries. According to the FBI's National Gang Threat Assessment 2011, San Bernardino County had 40,558 gang members; Riverside County had 13,000.

The suggestion didnât sit well with immigrant-rights advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union, who said DNA testing would be an added and unnecessary burden. Those applying for work permits, residency and citizenship already are subjected to fingerprinting, background checks and medical screening to rule out drug use.

ACLU attorney Lucero Chavez said DNA sampling presents privacy issues because it produces an entire genetic blueprint that is retained forever. It is so far-reaching that it can also identify the genetic information of an applicantâs relatives.

âIn a world where thatâs OK, youâre saying anyoneâs genetic blueprint is up for grabs. This person applying for citizenship may have U.S. citizen relatives, and their privacy is infringed upon because these databases have their information when otherwise they wouldnât,â Chavez said.

Emilio Amaya, executive director of the San Bernardino Community Service Center, which offers legal assistance and counseling on immigration, said Ramosâ proposal implies that most people who apply for citizenship are felons.

âIt has a criminalizing effect on our community,â he said.

Amaya called the move a political ploy by Ramos and said the issue should be left to the federal government.

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama and a bi-partisan group of eight senators separately outlined their recommendations for an immigration bill that deals with border security, visa backlogs and a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants already living and working in the United States.

Ramos said DNA sampling is not intended to imply that all immigrants are criminals, but to dispel that notion, which some believe.

âLetâs make sure if somebody applies that heâs not in the (criminal) system and it takes away that fear or people throwing out that rhetoric,â Ramos said.

âYou have these people volunteer to take a (DNA) swab and I guarantee most of them would, because theyâre law-abiding citizens and it takes that whole argument away and ensures that one person who committed rape or some other crime, weâll be able to catch that person, and theyâll never become a resident or citizen of this country,â he said.

The FBIâs Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS, has more than 10 million offender profiles from across the country; in California, every person arrested on felony charges, not just those convicted, must submit a genetic sample. The California law is the subject of a pending ACLU lawsuit.

âRequiring a DNA sample of applicants for immigration for the purpose of running it against CODIS to identify criminals is a commonsense hedge against criminals entering the United States,â Ramos said in his letter to lawmakers.

In an interview, Ramos said he believes the cost of DNA tests for citizenship applicants would be negligible. Hundreds of thousands of tests would be necessary â" in 2011, about 694,000 people became naturalized citizens, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Talk of new federal immigration policy has stirred emotions on both sides of the issue. Obama said Wednesday he wants to see immigration reform finalized in the next six months.

While undocumented immigrants and their advocates cheered the presidentâs position and said it would forward the reunification of families, others were not so happy.

Raymond Herrera, founder of We the People/Californiaâs Crusader in Claremont, took issue with Ramosâ DNA proposal, saying it would allow undocumented workers to remain in the country if they are not criminals. He wants all undocumented immigrants deported.

âThese are concessions that are made to criminal elements in our society. They should feel the fire and sword of the law,â he said.

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